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Yesterday, I was sitting in a lecture where we were discussing the philosophy of Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal”, when I encountered something which made me have to bite my tongue to stop from arguing up a storm with the lecturer. I thought I’d lay it out for your attention, and your opinions on the matter.

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, “The Seventh Seal” is a film set in the dark ages, centring on Antonius Block (as played by Max von Sydow, one of the coolest names I’ve heard), a knight returning from the Crusades to a country plagued by the Black Death. As he lands, shipwrecked on the shore, he encounters Death himself. In an attempt to prolong his life, he challenges Death to a game of chess. And so it begins…